Police have smashed a gang of drugs smugglers who tried to stay one step ahead of the law with an elaborate system of radars inside their beachfront villas.

The criminals were able to track the location of police patrols including force helicopters from the comfort of their own homes - and instruct accomplices on when to bring boats carrying lucrative loads of cannabis resin ashore.

Ten members of the gang, based in the Spanish town of La Linea near Gibraltar, were arrested and several vehicles seized along with guns and around £50,000 in cash.

Footage released by police today showed the elaborate equipment the drug smugglers were using to keep them under watch, which included two aerials and a screen similar to the ones air traffic controllers use to keep track of the movement of planes in the sky.